F1: Will Kovalainen Replace Raikkonen In Final Two Races?

Heikki Kovalainen of Finland has been suggested as a replacement driver for Lotus in the final races of 2013. (Photo: Getty Images)

Fellow Finn Mika Salo has nominated Heikki Kovalainen as the ideal replacement at Lotus for his surgery-bound countryman Kimi Raikkonen.

The conventional wisdom is that Lotus will simply promote its reserve driver, 2012 GP2 champion Davide Valsecchi, into Raikkonen’s seat for the remaining two grands prix of the season.

Italian Valsecchi, however, is a rookie, but Enstone based Lotus is locked in a lucrative and — given its financial problems — crucial battle for points and prize money in the constructors’ World Championship’s upper places.

“I have thought about this for a while,” former F1 driver Mika Salo told the Finnish broadcaster MTV3, “and I think getting Heikki would be a smart idea.”

The highly-rated Kovalainen is desperate to break back into F1 after losing his Caterham seat at the end of last season.

He is also better prepared than Valsecchi, given his appearance for Caterham on several Friday mornings in 2013.

“Valsecchi will hardly be able to do anything on a completely new track to him,” Salo said, “but Heikki has raced in Austin.

“Caterham also has a Renault engine. Heikki has been waiting for something like this, and if I was a team boss, I would take him rather than Valsecchi.